Archives: March 2010

For centuries, rumors have circulated in Japan about a ghost story so horrific that people die of fright soon after hearing it.

The dreadful tale -- known as "Cow Head" -- appears to date back at least to the early 17th century. Several known written accounts from this era make reference to the awful story, but they merely mention its title and describe it as a tale too terrible to tell.

The actual details of the story remain a mystery to this day, because those with the misfortune of knowing it usually do not live long enough to repeat it. According to the rumors, most people who read or hear the story are overcome with a fear so great that they tremble violently for days on end, until they die.

Although most people nowadays regard the tale as a complete fabrication, rumors of its existence have strangely survived, passing from generation to generation by word of mouth. Some theories suggest the rumors gained new life in the 1960s, after science fiction writer Sakyo Komatsu wrote a short story (titled "Cow Head") based on the old tale. There is no hard evidence supporting this claim, though.

In any case, references to the rumored story occasionally pop up in conversation and online.

One recent account tells of an elementary school teacher who told the "Cow Head" story to his poor students while the class was on a school trip. According to the account, the teacher was entertaining the students on the bus with ghost stories. The students, who tended to become unruly on long trips, grew remarkably subdued as they listened to the teacher speak. Many of them seemed truly frightened by the stories he told.

After some time, the teacher announced he would tell a tale called "Cow Head." Before he could finish the first sentence of the story, however, the children began to panic. "Stop!" they cried. "Don't tell us!" One child turned pale and covered his ears, and the others began to scream. But the teacher did not stop. His eyes went blank and he proceeded with the story as if some unseen force had taken over his mind.

Later, after the teacher regained his senses, he found that the bus had stopped moving. The students had all fainted and were frothing at the mouth. The driver lay slumped over the wheel, sweating and shivering. It is unclear what happened next, except that the teacher never told the story again.

The centerpiece of the festival was "Mother Night," a 13-meter (43-ft) tall spaceship-like balloon sculpture by artist Noboru Tsubaki. Stationed at Roppongi Hills Arena, the imposing work monitored the carbon dioxide emissions of the onlookers and displayed real-time data on a built-in projection screen.

But perhaps the most rousing event happened at the nearby Tokyo Midtown mega-complex, where French street theater troupe Compagnie des Quidams performed their dreamy "Rêve d'Herbert" piece, featuring larger-than-life bubble people with heads that glow.

Doctors from the Showa University School of Dentistry have teamed up with Kyushu-based robot developer tmsuk to create a robotic dental patient. The female humanoid, named Hanako Showa, is designed to act as a training tool for dental students. In addition to wincing in pain when a dentist-in-training makes a mistake, the robot can roll her eyes, blink, move her jaw, and wiggle her tongue. To add to the realism, she slackens her jaw muscles when she grows tired. And she drools.

The robot research team was led by Waseda University professor Atsuo Takanishi, who previously worked with tmsuk to develop the KOBIAN emotional humanoid unveiled last year.

Hanako is now being used at Showa University to train and evaluate dental students. This month, 88 students tested their skills on the robot.

Animals with human-like faces have long been rumored to exist in Japan. In recent decades, countless people have reportedly encountered human-faced dogs (jinmenken) around town and on the highway.

The modern-day explosion of alleged human-faced dog encounters began in the late 1980s and early 1990s. According to numerous stories, human-faced dogs are most frequently seen at night, usually by people taking out the trash. At first glance, the creature may look like an ordinary stray dog rummaging through the garbage, but closer inspection reveals a face that looks human.

Many stories claim the human-faced dog speaks when confronted. In a weary voice, it most often says, "Leave me alone."

Mutant dog with a human face in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978)

Other human-faced dog encounters allegedly take place on the highway. The creature can reportedly run at speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour (60 mph). It is said that any vehicle passed by a speeding human-faced dog on the highway will have a terrible accident.

Numerous theories claim to explain the origins of the human-faced dog. Some suggest the creatures may be experimental human-animal hybrids that have escaped from a biotech lab. Others claim they are mutants spawned by environmental pollution. And while some people suspect the creatures may be the spirits of people who have died in traffic accidents, others speculate that they are ordinary dogs possessed by the restless ghosts of office workers who have taken their own lives after being laid off (the dogs usually have the face of a middle-aged man).

This video claims to show a human-faced dog filmed outside a housing complex in Kamata, south of Tokyo (the dog's face is said to belong to a missing office worker):

Still others believe that human-faced dogs are spiritual beings, and only people with the ability to sense the supernatural can see them. Whatever the explanation, it is probably best to keep away -- it is said that anyone bitten by a human-faced dog will turn into one.

The oldest known stories of human-faced dogs in Japan can be traced at least as far back as the Edo period (1603 to 1868). According to the Gaidan Bunbun Shuyo -- a book by 19th-century historian Ishizuka Hokaishi that chronicles events from 1804 to 1830 -- a human-faced dog was born in the Tado-machi area of Edo (present-day Tokyo) in June 1810. After learning of the strange creature, a carnival sideshow manager acquired it and featured it in his show, where it proved to be a popular attraction.

A monster designed by H.R. Giger starred in a 1985 Japanese commercial for the Zone home entertainment system by Pioneer. The biomechanical beast -- which was also featured in a series of print ads that ran at the same time -- appears to be based on illustrations Giger made for underground filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's screen adaptation of "Dune," which never made it to production.

What happens when lightning strikes a fluorescent tube lamp? To find out, the crew of Tobidase! Kagaku-kun visited the 12-million-volt artificial lightning generator at the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI). See the super slow-motion results of the experiment in the video below.

Tales of "human pillars" (hitobashira) -- people who were deliberately buried alive inside large-scale construction projects -- have circulated in Japan since ancient times. Most often associated with castles, levees and bridges, these old legends are based on ancient beliefs that a more stable and durable structure could be achieved by sealing people inside the walls or foundation as an offering to the gods.

Was a young woman buried alive inside the wall of Matsue castle long ago?

One of the most famous tales of construction-related human sacrifice is associated with Matsue castle (Shimane prefecture), which was originally built in the 17th century. According to local legend, the stone wall of the central tower collapsed on multiple occasions during construction. Convinced that a human pillar would stabilize the structure, the builders decided to look for a suitable person at the local Bon festival. From the crowd, they selected a beautiful young maiden who demonstrated superb Bon dancing skills. After whisking her away from the festival and sealing her in the wall, the builders were able to complete the castle without incident.

However, the maiden's restless spirit came to haunt the castle after it was completed. According to folklorist Lafcadio Hearn, who described the castle's curse in his 1894 work "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan," the entire structure would shake anytime a girl danced in the streets of Matsue, so a law had to be passed to prohibit public dancing.

Although there is no conclusive evidence indicating that construction-related human sacrifice was actually practiced in Japan, it has been suggested that some laborers may, on occasion, have been terminated as a security measure after working on castles. Doing so would have prevented knowledge of a castle's secrets and weaknesses from falling into enemy hands.

Other notable structures rumored to make use of human pillars include:

Modern-day versions of these old legends can also be found on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. Human bones have been found around several bridges and tunnels, lending an air of credibility to rumors that workers were sacrificed during construction.

Monument erected after skeletons were found sealed in the walls of Jomon tunnel

Jomon tunnel, constructed on the Sekihoku Main Line (JR Hokkaido) in 1914, is notorious for rumors of human sacrifice. In 1968, the tunnel underwent repairs after a major earthquake damaged part of the wall inside. While doing the renovations, workers found a number of human skeletons, standing upright, sealed inside the walls. A large quantity of human bones were also unearthed near the tunnel. The discovery fueled beliefs that the tunnel was constructed with human pillars, and many people -- including train conductors -- came to fear that the tunnel was haunted by the ghosts of the victims.

Some theories suggest that brutal working conditions and poor nutrition led many workers -- mainly criminals and debtors working against their will -- to contract beri beri, a deadly nervous system ailment. With no access to medicine, these victims are believed to have been buried alive near the construction site. A monument honoring the fallen workers was erected in 1980.

Were people sealed inside the concrete supports of Koshikawa bridge?

People are also rumored to have been sealed inside the concrete supports of Koshikawa bridge, on the now-defunct Konboku line (also in Hokkaido). While no actual human skeletons have been found, recent surveys have revealed the possible existence of hollow spaces in the structure that may contain human remains. Records indicate that at least 11 indentured workers may have died building the bridge, which was completed in 1939.